Naupathia
by sharkmortal
Summary: Naupathia - Seasickness Sanji is a siren. He doesn't speak much due to a tragic incident in his past. He falls in love with a green-haired swordsman however, and is torn on what to do. To speak to him, or to not? No matter the choice, there is a risk he will lose him. Zoro x Sanji - YAOI - Rated M for future chapters.
1. RIP Wado

**Naupathia**

 **(means seasickness)**

 _ **A/N -**_

 _ **This idea is taken from the kid's show shown on Nickelodeon called H2O: Just Add Water. It's not gonna be exactly like it where when they just touch even one drop of water they turn into a mermaid. Let's be honest - that's bullshit.**_

 _ **So instead I'm going to have it where, if Sanji's legs get covered in water, he becomes a merman because you get a tail and you don't have legs and it therefore it makes sense for the legs getting wet to be the cause of it.**_

 _ **I'm also going to give him the power to waterbend but he'll rarely ever use it considering he's got his fine ass legs and a strong ass tail cause damn, if those legs are that powerful his fishtail has gotta be too.**_

 _ **OH! He's also a siren and does not speak much but he'll speak more throughout the whole thing, don't worry.**_

 _ **(AU where Fishman Island does not exist as mermaids/mermen aren't really supposed to exist for this story to work for me)**_

.

He'd never said much. He'd always been the silent type and he had a very good reason for this. I mean, being a Siren meant he had an alluring voice that would always attract people to him. Not only did he have a beautiful voice but he was also a beautiful person, people surrounding him all the time. And although he was surrounded by people he was always alone. He knew they didn't like him for himself.

So when Sanji found himself stuck with Old Man Zeff he was glad. He felt wanted even if the bastard never complimented him on his cooking and even then he knew it was just to help him improve his cooking.

At first the old man had no idea that Sanji was a Siren and Sanji had no intention of telling him. He refrained from using his voice as much as he could and would normally use hand gestures, shrugs, head movements or simple body gestures to get his point across.

Zeff did find out eventually however, when Sanji was fifteen and awake late one night. He thought Zeff had gone to bed and so he chose to stay up late and go swimming outside of the Baratie for a stretch. He swam for a little bit and then sat on the edge of the Baratie's dock, his legs-now-turned-tail dangling in the water, splashing about ever so gently and singing.

Zeff, who was still awake, heard the singing. He looked out of his window to see Sanji sat on the edge of the Baratie's dock. It was late and so he went to go and retrieve Sanji to send him to bed, walking down to the front of the Baratie as quietly as possible to sneak up and scare the singing blonde.

But when Zeff got there he was shocked to see that Sanji had a fishtail. The teen had not noticed the man creep up behind him and continued singing and splashing his tail gently. Zeff observed and noticed that Sanji's tail was a mix of sky blue, arctic blue and lilac. He had a large fin that went down the back of his tail, two smaller fins on the front of his tail and fins on his ears of the same colours as his tail. The fin on the bottom of his tail was large and looked as if it were a cloud in the water. It was a pale blue colour and flowed around like a cut of silk fabric. On his arms were patterns that were made out of scales and were once again in the same colours as his tail. His hair had also become a little bit longer somehow and was pulled back revealing both of his eyes and his asymmetrical eyebrows.

"Eggplant..?" Zeff said, approaching with caution. Sanji however, almost had a heart attack as he spun around and fell into the sea when he noticed Zeff stood staring at him. It took Sanji a moment to notice he was underwater. After getting a grip on the situation he slowly surfaced from the water, hands on the edge of the Baratie docks, and stuck his head halfway out of the water.

"You have some explaining to do." Zeff grumbled, arms crossed as Sanji winced at the tone of the old man's voice. He asked Zeff to pull him out of the water and dry himself off as he changed back to 'himself' and sat down to explain to Zeff what had happened. Luckily Zeff was the accepting type or Sanji would be dead meat.

.

When the Straw Hat crew came about he downright refused to join the crew and even after the fight with Don Krieg he still refused but when he heard Zeff tell Luffy to take him with him it hit Sanji hard. Even if it wasn't obvious he was saying it, he was telling Luffy to take Sanji to achieve his dream on the Grand Line - to find All Blue and cook with all the fish in the sea.

So Sanji agreed and joined the Straw Hats and for a year he spent time with his crew, kicking ass, cooking for everyone and hiding his secret. He still never spoke to anyone on the crew besides Luffy when he was arguing about why he could not join them and then when he agreed to join.

Sanji met all the crew at the time but he noticed that one stood out from the rest - a man with green hair and a grumpy attitude (99% of the time). He found him very attractive but apparently Sanji infuriated the man to no end so they were constantly fighting.

He complained that Sanji never spoke and it annoyed him and that, if Sanji had a problem speaking, then he should find a way to tell them but Sanji never did that, he just ignored the comments and wished that Zoro would notice the pleading look in his eyes to stop fighting. All he wanted was for no one to fall for his voice or songs again.

Never again.

.

 _ **A/N: We'll give a skip to when everyone has joined the crew because I can't be bothered to write all that out oops**_

.

One evening Zoro was on watch and Sanji was in the kitchen. Everyone else on the ship was asleep.

Zoro was thinking about his relationship with Sanji. They always fought because Sanji's silence and constantly stoic face pissed him off but… then he thought about Sanji with a smile on his face and he felt his heart pound slightly in his chest. He wondered what his voice would be like and his heart beat a little bit faster. His thoughts about the cook rose from the smile, to a kiss, to being underneath him, Zoro fucking him right into the bed. As soon as it got to that point he erased the thoughts but realised that he was rather attracted to the cook. However Zoro would never admit that out loud. He didn't really think about sex or relationships but the cook was special. Again, he'd never admit it out loud. To erase the thoughts he decided to work out a bit.

Sanji had been cooking onigiri. He'd subconsciously made it whilst thinking about Zoro (probably because that was Zoro's favourite food). He decided to go out onto the deck for a bit and eat and maybe sing a bit, not aware that Zoro was awake instead of being asleep like usual.

As Sanji went out on deck he sat on the ship's railing, the onigiri in front of him untouched, and started to sing. He chose to sing a song that was calm, memorable and personal to him.

 _Wide awake and bound_

 _I am searching till I'm found_

 _Along the way rebuilding what I've thrown away_

 _Listen to that sound_

 _You can feel it shaking up this town_

 _And I know_

 _I'm not waiting anymore_

Zoro, who had heard the singing from the Crow's Nest, put his weights down, grabbed his katana and descended from the Crow's Nest. Slowly, he reached the bottom and took a look at where the singing was coming from. He noticed Sanji looking down into the ocean and looking at all the fish in the sea that were visible due to the small light coming from the Sunny Go shining over the sea slightly. He noticed it was Sanji who was singing with a voice like an angel. Unconsciously Zoro stood there, watching Sanji sing with a small smile on his face as he stared at the water.

 _We are in for the long run_

 _We're all just getting by_

 _Without a sign_

 _Looking for the nearest place to hide_

 _We are in for the long run_

 _You gotta open up your eyes_

 _You're out of time_

 _Don't waste it on something you can't define_

 _Stop waiting all your life_

 _Careless and loud_

 _I will scream it from the clouds_

 _Miles away_

 _I won't rest until I've reached my grave_

 _Always wanting more_

 _See I've been up and down that road before_

 _And I'm here to say you're not alone_

 _We are in for the long run_

 _We're all just getting by_

 _Without a sign_

 _Looking for the nearest place to hide_

 _We are in for the long run_

 _You gotta open up your eyes_

 _You're out of time_

 _Don't waste it on something you can't define_

 _Stop waiting all your life_

 _When you've got no place to go_

 _I want you to know_

 _It's your time_

 _It's your world_

 _And you must grab ahold and take control_

 _When there's no place to call home_

 _I want you to know_

 _It's our time_

 _It's our world_

 _Lets say goodbye to those who doubt us all_

 _Wide awake and bound_

 _I am searching till I'm found_

 _Along the way rebuilding what I've thrown away_

 _We are in for the long run_

 _We're all just getting by_

 _Without a sign_

 _Looking for the nearest place to hide_

 _We are in for the long run_

 _You gotta open up your eyes_

 _You're out of time_

 _Don't waste it on something you can't define_

 _Stop waiting all your life_

 _Stop waiting all your life_

 _Stop waiting all your life_

When Sanji stopped singing he sighed. He wished he could share his voice with the crew but he didn't want them to become hypnotised by his voice and singing. He vowed he'd never let anything bad happen because of that. He'd keep his mouth shut for those he cared about.

Whilst Sanji was lost in thought, still looking at the still ocean and the swimming fish, Zoro had slowly approached him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oi, cook." Sanji, on instinct, kicked Zoro flying across the Sunny Go. He watched with shock and horror on his face as Zoro flew across the ship and noticed as his white katana (Wado Ichimonji, he believed) fly out into the open ocean as it came loose from Zoro's belt. Sanji was scared that Zoro had obviously heard him sing but was more concerned about the moss head getting up at this point. With a grunt Zoro stood up, rubbing the back of his head and grumbling things under his breath.

"What the fuck was that for? Look bastard, I don't know why you won't speak but that was a bit of a big reaction. You could have just shouted or shrieked or even gasped but you fucking kicked me!" Sanji gave him an apologetic look and pointed out to sea, trying to tell Zoro about his katana.

Zoro looked out to sea and saw nothing. He was so angry at the cook that he hadn't noticed that Wado was missing either and he still hadn't noticed.

"What is it? I'm not gonna know if you don't fucking tell me!" Sanji swallowed hard. He wanted to speak, he really did, but he couldn't. His voice would create a disaster again; he knew it would.

Hesitantly, Sanji pointed to Zoro's belt where his two other katana were. Zoro looked down and flipped shit.

"Fuck! Wado!" He looked out to sea but could not see his precious Wado Ichimonji.

"I can't fucking see her! Where is she? Fuck it, I'm going out!" Zoro started taking off his clothes in a hurry. Sanji felt so fucking angry and disappointed in himself. He'd lost one of his nakama's precious items that meant so much to them. He didn't know what to do but then thought about it.

Zoro would probably get lost in the water and never be able to make his way back.

Quickly, Sanji grabbed Zoro's arm, picked up his clothes and gave them back to Zoro.

"What are you doing, you shitty cook!? I'm going to get Wado." Sanji sighed and shook his head. He pointed at himself and then to the water but Zoro (being Zoro) didn't get it so he once again told Sanji to just 'fucking speak'. Letting out another long sigh, Sanji took a deep breath and spoke, his voice rather shaky at the thought of speaking to someone after so many years.

"Just wait." And with that Sanji jumped into the water fully clothed. Zoro, who thought that was such a stupid idea, looked over the railings and saw bubbles appear on the surface of the water and then there was Sanji, covered in scales and fins with a fishtail on the bottom half of his body.

"What the fuck!?" Zoro shouted but not so loud it would wake the crew. His eyes were wide and he could not believe what he was seeing. Sanji was a fucking merman? Bullshit. They didn't exist.

"What the fuck are you? Explain. Now!" Sanji winced at Zoro's tone but decided to explain. It was easier than running away, being bombarded with questions and then Zoro telling the crew he was some weird creature.

"I'm a Siren. The reason I don't speak is because my voice is enticing and has caused disaster in the past. Now get that through your shitty moss brain and let me go and retrieve your shitty sword." Leaving a wide-eyed, jaw-dropped marimo behind, Sanji swam off as fast as he could to retrieve the swordsman's katana.

.

Sanji had forgotten how nice it was to swim in the ocean and feeling the salt water on his skin and scales as he glided through the water. A huge grin was plastered on his face as he swam around, moving faster than should be possible due to his immensely strong tail.

He slowly moved down to the bottom of the ocean once he noticed a slight glint of light on the seabed. As he got closer he noticed that it was Zoro's katana and sped up to grab it. Once he had it in his hands however, he noticed that there was no scabbard and started to panic. He couldn't return without that, it was an important piece of the sword.

Looking around he saw a giant swordfish with the scabbard caught on the end of its nose, swimming about in a frenzy as it tried to get it off. With a sigh Sanji started chasing after it, speeding up to catch it but every time he got close the swordfish turned its head in a different direction, worried it was going to be caught by Sanji and used for food or something. He'd love to do that but right now he had to get the sword out of the water before it started rusting and was irreparable.

.

Back on the Sunny Go Zoro was looking out into the water and waiting for Sanji to emerge so he can retrieve Wado from him and demand answers from the cook. He was worried that Wado would rust and he would not be able to repair her but he was trying to trust the cook to bring her back for him. He was getting impatient however, and just as Zoro was about to jump into the water himself he saw Sanji come up out of the water following after a swordfish with what seemed to be the scabbard of Wado on its nose.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU BAST-... - I'LL SLICE YOU UP AND MAKE-... - STOP FUCKING SWIMMING FROM ME, YOU…" He was constantly jumping out of the water, swearing at the fish to just _bring the scabbard back to him_. Zoro was mesmerised by how graceful Sanji looked as he appeared out the top of the water, Wado Ichimonji in hand. He looked as if he'd held a sword before but that must just be because of his cooking skills, Zoro thought.

"FINALLY! FUCKI-... GOT 'YA NO-..." Zoro could see Sanji wrestling with the fish, grabbing at the scabbard until he finally pulled it off, shouting in victory as the fish swam away. Sanji placed Wado back in it's scabbard and swam back towards Zoro, chucking the katana back onto the ship for Zoro to catch.

"O-oi, Marimo… Go down to the docking system. I can speak to you easier there…" Sanji mumbled loud enough for Zoro to hear as he swam away round to the docking system 'door'. Zoro didn't want to have to walk all the way down to there but he needed answers from the cook so he complied and made his way down there too.


	2. Sappy Shit

**Naupathia**

 _ **A/N: Thank you Glasses, for pointing out my mistake. At the time of writing this I had no idea and the other day I did some cosplay thing with my sister (who was cosplaying Zoro) and we actually had to Google this to make sure it was correct, to find out his favourite food was in fact**_ **Sea King meat** _ **,**_ **white rice** _ **and**_ **anything that compliments ale** _ **so I'm thankful for your correction! Luckily I somewhat got it right anyway!**_

* * *

With a huff, Zoro made his way down to the docking system. He needed answers from the silent cook and just standing there and being stubborn was _not_ going to get him those answers. It was a pain in the ass but Zoro knew it was going to benefit him in the long run anyway.

And while Zoro was making his way down to the docking station (and probably getting lost by the amount of time it was taking him), Sanji was shaking in fear at the idea of having to talk to Zoro as much as he needed to to get his point across as to why he was a fucking siren. Sanji shouldn't even be above ground and spending time with humans. He should be seducing them and taking them into the sea.

But he'd never let that happen again. He'd never bring a human into the ocean like that again; never let anyone be enticed by his voice. If Sanji noticed Zoro falling into a trance he would stop speaking and do whatever it took to bring him back to reality - _anything_.

Then a thought struck Sanji. What if he couldn't wake him up? What if it happened again? What if? What if? What if? What -

"Oi, cook." A little whistle of a melody could be heard and a hand could be seen waving back and forth. Sanji was shaken out of his little world and noticed Zoro stood in front of him, bending down without a shirt on where he was going to jump out into the sea to grab Wado Ichimonji. Sanji instantly blushed, looking away and trying to avoid a nosebleed.

' _Why does the marimo have to be so sexy by accident!?_ ' Sanji thought but was once again cut from his thoughts by Zoro who was sighing, obviously at Sanji's "lack of interest" in the conversation. It wasn't entirely right but Sanji didn't really have a desire to continue it any further.

"Are you going to explain or am I going to have to drag you up to deck and grab the crew?" Zoro grumbled, arms crossed as he stood back up to his full height only to glare down at Sanji full force. Stumbling over his words, Sanji forced out a reply.

"W-well, I am a s-siren and I don't like talking and-and I-I don't really know what to say…" It was all Sanji could do to keep his head above water, talking to Zoro. He had no chance at trying to explain things without stuttering and messing up unless Zoro asked him directly about anything. He didn't want to say something bad and mess everything up. He didn't want anything bad to happen.

"The first thing I want to know is why you never told the crew. We rely on and tell each other our problems so that we can support one another but you've kept everything to yourself and now you're in this mess. It's your own fault that this happened so explain." Sanji was not expecting Zoro to burst out like that and get so mad at him.

"I'm sorry I never told you all!" Sanji pleaded, his eyes watering as Zoro's hard glare never wavered causing Sanji to feel more pressured. With one last burst of courage, Sanji tried to explain, "Something bad happened in my past, okay!? It was all because I'm a siren! Do you know what we're supposed to do? Lure humans into the sea to never be seen again - we are supposed to eat them! You really think I want to eat a human? They're just like us in many ways - they don't deserve to die like that. Food should be something you put love and care into to make those around you feel better but eating another living being whom you share this earth with is not going to make people feel better. Imagine if you served me up as dinner, huh? It'd be just like that. The crew would feel horrible and might even try and kill you for it!

"But I was able to be accepted if I ate someone! I couldn't - I became an outcast in my family just because I couldn't fucking eat someone! Do you know how it feels to be rejected from your own society just because you couldn't do something that would get you rejected up in the human realm where we also spend some of our time? I can't cope with knowing what I'd done." Zoro didn't know what to say. The cook's outburst was unexpected and it left Zoro in a daze as he tried to process all the information he'd been given and what he could say in reply.

Sanji held his head in his hands, silent as Zoro thought of a reply but that was when it hit him. What had Sanji done that he can't cope with? After saying all of that, what had he done?

"Oi, Sanji." The blonde's head shot up at that - Zoro never calls him by his name, "What did you do? What can't you cope with?"

The cook's eyes widened at the question. He didn't want to think of it, didn't want to tell anyone, but… Zoro had to know. If they wanted mutual trust, even if it was just Zoro, he'd have to tell him. With a deep breath and some mental preparation, Sanji opened his mouth to speak.

"I ate a part of someone…" A tear spilled from Sanji's one visible blue eye, now clouded over at the memory. Zoro's face changed to one of horror, anger, and then pure shock and sympathy - was the cook forced into doing it? Not knowing what to do, Zoro just stood there watching Sanji as he looked down and cried, silently. How do you comfort someone you have a rivalry with? How do you comfort someone who is so strong that you have never seen them break down before? How do you comfort someone in the first place?

Zoro had a few ideas of things he could try but they were all stupid and soppy and he had no desire to try them - it would be embarrassing. Instead, he leant down to the edge of the water, stretching his arm out above Sanji's head and gently… patted his head?

Apparently Zoro thought it was a good idea to pat Sanji's head. The man on the receiving end of the gesture spoke up, softly.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, patting your head?"

"Why are you patting my head, Zoro?"

"Um… Moral support?"

"Yeah, not helping."

"Yeah…" The two sank into silence then, unsure of what to say to the other, as Zoro's hand just kind of rested on Sanji's head. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't comfortable either, so the two just embraced it and ended up at some sort of mutual understanding. Zoro took a look at Sanji's face - his eyes were red and puffy and he looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards as his hair was all over the place causing his other eye to almost be revealed.

To Sanji, Zoro's hand on his head was comforting. The man wasn't really one for human contact but it seemed that the moss head was trying to comfort him in any way possible so that he didn't have to see Sanji weak and vulnerable like that. Showing weakness was a problem when you appeared to be as strong as they did - they were on equal terms in that category, and were second strongest on the ship. What also made Sanji happy was that he knew that Zoro would normally mock him for showing this weakness, but he wouldn't do it this time - there was no reason for it. However, that was enough of the sappy shit whilst he was stuck in the water, Sanji decided, and requested Zoro help him out of the water, so with a bit of effort Zoro managed to pull Sanji up onto the wooden surface of the docking station.

"Thanks…" Sanji muttered, worried about what was going to happen after that. He still had his tail, waiting for it to dry off so he'd go back to normal. The blonde noticed that Zoro had opened his mouth to say something but was hesitant about it and shut it again after a moment of thought. Considering the moss brain wouldn't initiate any conversation, Sanji decided he would do it himself.

"Do you plan on telling the crew about this?" Zoro instantly turned his head to look at Sanji, his expression not changing one bit from the focused expression he had on last, "I mean, you have to now, right? We… we don't keep secrets from each other on this ship and the last thing I want to do is worry any of them like I have you, Zoro."

Zoro didn't say anything for a moment and just studied Sanji closely. Whilst he waited for a reply from the swordsman, Sanji looked up at his face and could see that Zoro's brain was wracking itself for an answer to just somehow respond to the cook, but it proved to be rather difficult, apparently. Finally, Zoro opened his mouth to answer.

"I don't plan on telling the crew; I'll keep your secret, but that means that everyone will be suspicious of how 'close' we are at some point." The corners of Sanji's mouth turned up slightly, and he breathed a small laugh.

"'s okay. It'll be weird to get used to but it can't be helped." Sanji muttered with a smile evident in his voice, "Hey, Zoro…"

"What?" Zoro breathed in reply, him also smiling.

"Thanks for not telling anyone." Zoro patted Sanji's head again, a lazy grin widespread on his face.

"No problem, cook."


	3. SUPER Discovery

**Naupathia**

 _ **A/N: Okay, so if Sanji seems OOC it's because fear changes anyone and I'd like to think that he wants to rely on someone but the only person he can actually rely on is Zoro. To trust someone enough to tell them a secret as serious as the one Sanji hides in this story, it means a lot to be able to put trust in someone. I'd like Sanji to be able to show weakness considering he never does and I'd like to put on 'paper' how I imagine Sanji showing weakness.**_

 _ **Tsukihime17 - The song is 'Us In Motion' by Get Scared (who are my favourite band) so I totally recommend listening to the song!**_

 _ **LilMizFuNsiZe - H2O was such a great show as a kid! Thanks for agreeing with me on that whole idea of one single drop of water being utter rubbish.**_

 _ **Shit Cook - It was a show about three girls who become mermaids whenever they touch water. It was a great show as a kid and I really enjoyed it but now that I think about the concept I had to change it so it's different than the show.**_

 _ **Thanks to all of you for reading this! I'm a bit concerned when it comes to my writing. It keeps me awake at night when I think of how cheesy and stupid it probably sounds, haha!**_

* * *

Zoro and Sanji hadn't spoken much after their exchange the other day. Of course, Sanji was still being the ladies man he always was and Zoro was the lazy bastard _he_ always was and there was no reason to change how they behaved.

… Except when Sanji almost fell into the water or when he actually did because of Luffy being his typical ecstatic self, fighting with Zoro, or his overenthusiastic flirting with his precious ladies. Now though, Zoro tries to hold himself back from fighting with the cook too much because he doesn't want to have to keep retrieving him from the water via the docking station and having to awkwardly hide a towel when he does so.

The crew had not picked up on anything yet and had not noticed how often Zoro and Sanji were seen coming up from the docking station together (probably because Sanji had decided to be 'stealthy' about it and run up and away from Zoro when he got the ability to actually move on land back). It wasn't really that often but it was becoming more often than not and both the cook and the swordsman were trying to prevent it but today just so happened to be a day in which they were approaching an island and the Captain was more hyper than usual, excited to go and explore the new terrain.

To avoid being plunged into the dark depths of the ocean, Sanji maneuvered to the kitchen to get started on lunch. The Sunny would arrive at the island just after lunch, Nami predicted, so Sanji wanted to get it done and dusted as soon as possible so he didn't have his Captain rushing his food because both he and Chopper would have to complain at him about how it would make him, though Luffy ate his food pretty fast all the time so it wouldn't make a difference but Chopper was always health concerned and Sanji liked people to have manners. Of course, Sanji's kicks and Chopper's complaints would not change Luffy's attitude and he'd continue being a seriously messy eater no matter what.

As it was a Sunday, the crew would be having a full roast dinner with seasoned roast chicken, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, steamed vegetables, gravy and selection of different sauces and garnishes that Sanji had put together himself. For dessert there would be a fresh strawberry trifle with fresh cream to go on top if so desired. Of course, everything would be prepared by the cook and he could finish this dinner perfectly in only a few hours - it was a favourite of his to cook when he felt like spending a little longer on something or wanted to escape the mayhem on deck.

* * *

Halfway through Sanji's preparations had begun, Zoro made his presence known in the kitchen as he opened the door with full force and made his way in as if he owned the place, the door swinging shut behind him. Sanji put down the knife he was holding and turned around to glare at the swordsman who had reached up to a cupboard above the counter.

"And, just what do you think you're doing, bastard?" Sanji asked, a challenging tone hinted in his voice.

"Getting booze; what does it look like?"

"Stealing." Was Sanji's instant reply, a low growl rising up from Sanji's chest, "You won't find it there - I moved it - but we're not fighting in my kitchen. Get out and go waste time sleeping on the deck of the Sunny or something."

A sigh and some shuffling could be heard from Zoro, but it was obvious that he did not move to leave as the shuffling got closer and not further away. Sanji tensed in anger, silently praying that the bastard would actually leave instead of deciding on staying for no reason whatsoever. They had nothing to talk about and he knew that the swordsman was staying to piss him off.

"Look, the crew is going to start noticing something sooner or later. We can't keep being this obvious about everything. Do you want them to think something is going on between us? 'Cause I sure don't." Sanji tensed up once again at this. Did Zoro think someone had noticed and was trying to keep Sanji calm so he didn't have to panic about it and alert the crew of his distress. Panic still rushed through the blonde however, and he was pretty sure that someone had noticed their antics, and if it was anyone that had noticed, it would have been Robin who could see anything on the ship if she so wished. The panic showed on his face and Zoro raised his eyebrows.

"What is it, Cook? I know you're thinking about something unnecessary again. Just tell me." Zoro pushed Sanji to tell; if the cook didn't get this out then more panic would rise and then someone would definitely be notified of their conversation.

"W-what worries me is that Robin-chan has seen us. You _know_ she can see anything on the ship and there's probably no doubt that she knows and has seen and, oh god, I can't deal with this." A tear dripped down Sanji's face as he leant over, clutching both his stomach and Zoro's crossed arms for support, "I can't let anyone else know, okay?"

Zoro sighed and pulled Sanji up from his crouching position, his face not changing from it's stoic state.

"Look, no one is going to find out and even if Robin has, you know she wouldn't tell anyone. She keeps a lot of secret and I'm sure she's not going to spill this one judging by how important it is. Aren't you supposed to trust your nakama? They won't hold it against you and you know that, shitty cook. I didn't, did I? I could have held it against you but I chose not to, so just think about it and be a bit more discreet if you want to hide it from the others." Zoro sighed, rubbing the back of his head and feeling awkward about talking about more of the sappy and emotional stuff. Zoro was never one for the kind of thing and he preferred not to have to try and comfort others - it had never really been a strong point of his.

The piece of information Zoro just reminded Sanji of however, had seemed to calm the cook down a bit as he appeared to be visibly relaxing, even if it was only a slight amount. Sanji had stopped trembling slightly and was not breathing as heavily. Zoro took that as a good sign and decided to pat Sanji's head again, walking away. Apparently patting Sanji's head had become a normal thing and a sign of Zoro's will to help the cook through all of this and it had simply happened through Zoro being awkward and not knowing how to deal with a crying Sanji.

As Zoro walked away, he heard a light chuckle escape the cook and he grinned broadly.

* * *

A typical sunny day on the Thousand Sunny was Luffy, Usopp and Chopper playing games and running about, Robin and Nami sunbathing with cold drinks and desserts that Sanji had made for them, Franky tinkering with something, Brook playing some music, Zoro in the Crow's Nest working out or sleeping on deck, and Sanji in the kitchen cooking something up for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack for the ladies - and on rare occasions, for everyone else, too.

However, that day was not a typical day. Being a siren meant that Sanji could tell when ships were sailing near them and, unfortunately, there happened to be some nearby. He could tell they were navy ships who had obviously taken note of the Thousand Sunny and recognising it as the Straw Hats, surrounding them. These ships however, were submarines and very few of the crew could take care of those. Many of them were devil fruit users or would be weighed down or in danger of getting injured themselves, if using their weapons underwater. The two that would be least affected would probably be Usopp and Sanji but Sanji had his secret to keep.

Of course, through a lot of training and concentration, Zoro had a heightened sense of danger and people's presences which meant he could sense the presence of the submarines, too. Kicking open the galley door after turning everything off and putting down his equipment and washing his hands, Sanji exited the galley, whilst Zoro stood up and stuck his hand on his swords, unsheathing one just slightly. Luffy had apparently also noticed the presence, looking around slightly.

"Neh, what's that? There are people nearby, right? Where are they~?" Luffy whined, upset at not being able to actually see the people who were surrounding them. At that, everyone seemed to prepare themselves for an attack. They didn't know that anyone was going on but the three strongest on the ship had alerted them that something was definitely wrong and someone or a group of people seemed to be targeting them. Sanji moved over to Zoro and spoke to him in a whisper.

"They're in submarines underwater. It's the marines." Was all he said as he casually walked past him to the railing of the ship to look down into the water. Of course, the sea was dark and no one could normally see down there, but Sanji could. Being a creature of the sea helped with that, though.

"Oi, cook. Leave this to us. Do not jump in, okay? You'll only be found out." Zoro said as he looked down into the sea, too. It was to look as casual as he could whilst trying to talk to Sanji so that no one would really suspect anything of them.

"Look, if it calls for it, I'll help everyone, but I can't predict what will happen and neither can you or Luffy. We'll have to see how it goes, okay? Unless I'm needed down there, I'll stay up here on deck." Sanji muttered, walking away. As he did however, the ships emerged from the water and the hatched opened revealing thousands of marine soldiers, ready to attack as they jumped aboard the Sunny.

Everyone was fighting, even Usopp who'd not run away to hide and snipe people out from somewhere he would not be spotted. Robin was holding her own, breaking people's necks and spines to defeat the enemies that surrounded her, whilst Chopper was using Heavy Point to drop his enemies.

Nami was creating thunderstorms, electrocuting those who stood in her way with the Clima Tact, as she tried to push them away from her and down the stairs as she was on the second level of the deck, and Brook was laughing and slicing down marines one after the other, making dead jokes left, right, and centre.

Luffy was punching people, and knocking them off the side of the ship easily, as per usual, whilst Zoro was cutting down his enemies with ease and Sanji was simply kicking people in the face or knocking them down to the ground and jumping on them, probably creating dents in the surface of the Sunny that Franky, who was mowing down groups of marines with Weapons Left and Strong Right, would murder him for later.

What the crew did not expect though, was for there to be several dozen vice-admirals aboard the marines submarines, ready to attack the Straw Hats whilst they were busy fighting off the mobs of marine soldiers.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I'm really not good at writing fight scenes so we'll avoid it for now. I'll try and get better at it and write a fight scene at some point but for now we're going to skip ahead a little bit.**_

* * *

The vice-admirals appeared to be winning, none of the Straw Hats being able to really get a hit or attack in and were being beaten up pretty badly. Sanji knew he had to do something - anything to get them to be able to use Coup de Burst and escape. Thinking on his feet, he kicked the vice-admiral he was fighting in the face, and ran to Zoro.

"Tell everyone to cover their ears and just dodge the attacks they're receiving unless they have some way to plug their ears. You do it, too." Sanji ran towards the edge of the ship, standing on the railing and jumping off, but not before hearing an 'Oi, wait!' from the distressed swordsman.

Zoro told everyone to plug their ears or block them, telling them it was important and that he had to do it, no matter what. The swordsman had a good idea of what Sanji was going to do and he was praying that it didn't make Sanji feel guilty if he hurt someone again. Of course, Zoro would probably end up being the one who tells everyone about Sanji because the shitty cook would go and lock himself in his kitchen and let no one in until he's calmed down and okay with people again.

Sanji however, was sat on one of the empty submarines that had been left pretty far from the Sunny, contemplating if he should sing or not. The crew would know about him and probably tell him to get lost, but with this power, he could save them - he could help his crew and then say goodbye and swim away.

He watched as, on the Sunny, everyone plugged their ears somehow, and continued fighting to protect themselves and all of their nakama. It brought tears to his eyes as he thought of them dying and he just could not risk losing them at all. They should all live and he'd do anything to help them.

Drying his tears up and steeling himself, worried for what would happen if any of the crew had not listened to Zoro's warning, closed his eyes, and sang the song that caused all men and women who heard it to jump overboard and give up their lives.

" _This is the one song everyone_

 _Would like to learn: the song_

 _That is irresistible:_

 _The song that forced men_

 _To leap overboard in squadrons_

 _Even though they see the beached skulls_

 _The song nobody knows_

 _Because anyone who had heard it_

 _Is dead, and the others can't remember._

 _Shall I tell you the secret_

 _And if I do, will you get me_

 _Out of this bird suit?_

 _I don't enjoy sitting here_

 _Squatting on this island_

 _Looking picturesque and mythical_

 _With these feathery maniacs,_

 _I don't enjoy singing_

 _This trio, fatal and valuable._

 _I will tell this secret to you,_

 _To you, only to you._

 _Come closer. This song_

 _Is a cry for help: Help me!_

 _Only you, only you can,_

 _You are unique_

 _At last. Alas_

 _It is a boring song_

 _But it works every time._ "

As Sanji finished, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes, his tail flapping about in the ocean. He noticed the bodies of drowned marines, and those currently drowning, the song that had overtaken their minds forcing themselves underwater, and a few tears spilled from his eyes. Though his instincts told him to take a bite, even just a small one, but he refused and forced himself to look at the Thousand Sunny and his crew.

Everyone besides Zoro had a shocked look on their face, staring at him. He noticed that a few of them actually had fear in their eyes, and that hit him right in the chest. He felt rejected and scared that he would be abandoned by his nakama. His last resort was to look at Zoro who simply motioned for him to come closer to the ship. With a bit of hesitation, Sanji pushed himself off of the now abandoned submarine he was sat on, avoiding the dead bodies of marines in the water, and swam towards the Thousand Sunny. Before he was submerged in the water, he noticed Zoro telling everyone to remove their earplugs. He suspected that they'd be down by the docking station to talk to him so Sanji made his way towards it, praying for a normal and not awkward conversation with the crew.

* * *

When Sanji had arrived at the ship, the docking station was open and everyone was stood around the edge, looking in the water for Sanji. Considering it was dark, they couldn't really see him, so when Sanji arrived he stuck his head halfway out of the water and approached the ship slowly.

"U-uh, hi…" Sanji muttered, the words coming out clearly despite being halfway under the water. The shocked looks continued, eyes growing wider at the shock of Sanji actually saying something in front of them. Zoro grinned and decided to annoy the cook however he could.

"Oi, curlicue. Aren't you going to tell them? They're your nakama and they won't hurt you or anything about it. Just man up and tell them, shit cook." Sanji made a weird growling noise that came from deep within his chest that scared Usopp and Chopper just a little bit; the two shuffled backwards a little bit, hugging each other. Sanji however, realising what he was doing, stopped the growling, and started feeling the anxiety rile up inside of him. Sanji raised his whole head out of the water to speak to his nakama directly.

"Well, I'm a Siren…" Sanji muttered, not knowing what to say. That seemed to put a bit of concern on Robin and Chopper's faces, who seemed to know a bit about Sirens and thought they were dangerous. Sanji stuck his hands up in defence and stuttered over his next words that came out as a panicked shout, "I-I'm not a bad person, I promise! I'm just ashamed of what I am… And what I've done…"

The last four words came out as an almost silent mutter from under the water considering the blonde had submerged half his face in water once again. Everything was silent until a laugh sounded from someone.

"Yohohoho! You scared me to death there, Sanji-san! Ah, but I'm a skeleton! I'm already dead! Yohohohoho!" Brook had then triggered laughter from Luffy who was laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach in an attempt to stop the pain there from laughing so hard.

"Oi, Sanji~!" Luffy called out, a big grin on his face, "Don't worry about it! Wait! Can I see your tail!? It looks so~ cool~!"

At that idea, Luffy's eyes lit up, along with Usopp, Chopper and even Franky, who thought the idea of seeing Sanji's tail was a pretty cool idea. Sanji's eyes opened wide and he was stuck for words. He was so set on the idea that he'd probably be questioned about things, rejected, and kicked out of the crew.

But that had never happened. They'd accepted him and laughed it off, as they always do. Sanji hopped himself up on the edge of the docking station with a quiet 'excuse me', and for the first time everyone ogled his body, the beautiful patterns and markings along his arms and tail showing, his ears coming into sight as they twitched slightly due to his more sensitive hearing.

A group of 'oohs' and 'awws' could be heard as everyone looked at Sanji in full, everyone fascinated by how gorgeous Sanji actually was with his scales and fins.

"Oi, Sanji! Can we touch it?" Luffy asked, a smile on his face.

"'s okay. You can touch it. Just be careful, please." Sanji responds with a shy smile, praying that the three over-enthusiastic males don't harm his tail or the scales on it.

"Ah, pardon me, Sanji-san, but I thought Sirens were supposed to be female?" Brook asks in a tone that suggests he's not trying to be rude but is interested to know, all the same. Sanji smiles at Brook and chuckles, quietly.

"Not necessarily. Sirens are hermaphrodites but I'm more male than female so when I'm a human, I have a male body." Sanji puts bluntly, with a smile on his face, tilting his head to the side slightly. This makes Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's eyes light up even more, bright smiles on their faces, whilst everyone else stands there with an odd look on their face, as if they weren't expecting something like that to come from the cook.

"Hmm, interesting…" Robin muttered to no one in particular but herself. She pulled a notebook out of nowhere and wrote something down. She was probably noting down all the information she'd learnt about Sanji. With a soft chuckle at the three boys' antics, she excused herself to go and read some more.

Nami, Franky, and Brook follow; Nami laughing at something with Robin, and Brook talking with Franky, the latter shouting about how 'SUPER' this whole thing is. Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy left with smiles on their faces and stars in their eyes whilst Zoro stayed behind with crossed arms and a look that said 'I fucking told you so, idiot'. Sanji just glared back with a glare that said, in response, 'shut the fuck up, moss head'.

Zoro chuckled slightly and turned around to make his way back up to the top of the Sunny but stopped when he heard a splash of water.

"Call me when you need a towel, shit cook."


End file.
